LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers might have beaten the Brewers on Friday night at Dodger Stadium, 8-6, but a shadow loomed over the comeback win: the potential loss of Clayton Kershaw for the postseason.
After Kershaw allowed an RBI double to Kolten Wong in the second inning, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and the trainers immediately came out to check on him. Following a lengthy conversation on the mound, Kershaw was removed from the game with after throwing just 42 pitches with what the team announced was left forearm discomfort.
Kershaw, who was making his fourth start back after missing nearly three months with a left forearm injury, didn’t look sharp prior to his exit. The Brewers had jumped out to a 3-1 lead and had five batted balls with an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher. The pitch prior to the injury, Kershaw’s velocity on a four-seam fastball was 89.1, lower than his average. It’s unknown if there was any correlation between Kershaw’s injury and the struggles he was going through on the mound Friday.
But Kershaw said that once he threw the last slider to Wong in the second inning, he knew that he had thrown his last pitch of the night. The left-hander, who will undergo further testing on Saturday, also made it sound like his season will be over.
“It’s a tough blow, obviously,” Kershaw said. “Kinda the same thing I’ve been dealing with and [it] just got bad enough to where I couldn’t keep going tonight. Haven’t quite wrapped my head around that yet. The biggest thing was I just wanted to be a part of this team through October. That’s the hardest part for me right now, just knowing that chances are that it’s not looking good for October right now. … I’m excited for these guys to do what they’re gonna do in October.”
The severity of the injury won’t be determined until he undergoes more testing. Roberts didn’t want to speculate on the severity given that the injury is to Kershaw’s elbow/forearm area, a sensitive injury for pitchers.
“Where we’re at in the schedule and what’s left of the season, just not too optimistic right now,” Roberts said. “I don’t really know specifics. But he couldn’t keep pitching [on Friday], so that’s pretty telling.”
Seeing Kershaw walk off the mound with the injury was a huge gut punch to the Dodger Stadium crowd, which responded by giving him a standing ovation. During the pitching change, Dodgers players gathered on the field clearly in shock.
“That was definitely a tough one,” said second baseman Trea Turner. “You never want to see one of your guys do down, especially an unbelievable teammate like him. I haven’t known him for a long, long time, but I can already see why he’s a leader in this clubhouse and why he’s had a great career and why he’s going to continue to be a big part of our team, whether he’s on the field or in the dugout. He’s special.”
Kershaw, who is a free agent at the end of the season, took the mound on Friday for his last start of the regular season. Given that Kershaw wouldn’t be slated to pitch if the Dodgers are in the National League Wild Card Game next Wednesday against the Cardinals, there’s the possibility that the left-hander made his final regular-season start at Dodger Stadium as a member of the Dodgers. While it served as a symbolic moment that represented the toughness he’s shown over the years, Kershaw said that he didn’t purposely hold onto the ball as he exited the game, instead saying it was “probably shock” during the moment.
After the game, Kershaw was asked about his future.
“My future is going to take care of itself,” Kershaw responded. “I’m not really worried about that right now. I really wanted to be a part of the moment right now and I wanted to be with this group through October. That was my only focus this whole year once I got hurt, it was to come back and make it up for this month. As far as anything else goes, I haven’t wrapped my head around it and I don’t plan to anytime soon.”